This time around, they’ve toned down on the drama and, despite Sheff wanting to make this album quickly, seem to have taken the time to recount the past so they can tell their stories with appropriate reverence to being young.

Ostensibly about a specific time and place, The Silver Gymnasium confirms Okkervil River as a band that's still too crafty to settle for anything so simple as a straightforward paean to childhood, using this boilerplate structure to examine the deeper meaning behind the natural impulse to fixate on the past.

Stick with this one. There's magic in it everywhere. Will Sheff's best singing, most moving lyrics (aside from Savannah Smiles)...all buriedStick with this one. There's magic in it everywhere. Will Sheff's best singing, most moving lyrics (aside from Savannah Smiles)...all buried in a brew of the musical memories of our childhood.…Collapse

No Black Sheep Boy but still a very solid album. Large variety of styles that they had yet to touch on. Very valuable and nostalgic. AllowNo Black Sheep Boy but still a very solid album. Large variety of styles that they had yet to touch on. Very valuable and nostalgic. Allow some song are a bit boring, songs like PInk Slips, On a Balcony, and It was my Season hold it up.…Expand